


Out of my Head

by ShinoMordio



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: College, M/M, Modern Day, Musical theater AU, means there are song with picture elements in it, song/pic fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-06 04:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11592726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinoMordio/pseuds/ShinoMordio
Summary: Mikleo lives life in his head, imagining stories, and thinking of answers only after the moment has passed and to add to it his best friend Rose has asked him for help to bring her original musical to life, with his dancing expertise. However when an old friend appears on stage at the auditions, he is forced to confront reality and face what happened when they were separated seven years ago.





	1. Chapter 1: Act 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is something that I made in junction with two song and picture series I did. So the basic set up for this fic will be:  
> -Regular chapter  
> -Song with pictures chapter  
> -Regular chapter  
> -Song with pictures chapter  
> -Regular chapter
> 
> If I find that I can't get the formatting I want with Archive of Our Own I may redirect the SongPic chapters to my Tumblr account, since those require a lot of pictures and a youtube link. But we'll see how that goes. The Song Pic chapters should be pretty straight forward but basically you'll hit play on the video and then scroll through the pictures as the lyrics in the pictures match the song.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic, I was inspired to right it from one of the songs I did the SongPic for, and decided I wanted a bit more story to go along with it.
> 
> If you would like to follow me for art then you can check out my tumblr http://alikitcatart.tumblr.com/  
> or my twitter https://twitter.com/artsyantatee?lang=en

Chapter 1

 

**_The soft click of his heels on the marble was almost numbing to his ears, for he had heard that sound everyday since he had been brought to this place. He pivoted and swayed, his body dipping close to the ground. The gentle tune of the piano pushed him to keep dancing, for as long as it played he wasn’t allowed to stop. A soft purple fabric fluttered behind him, tracing his every move, his short blue hair clinging to his face with sweat. His feet hurt and his legs had been pushed past the point of exhaustion. The tall glass windows blurred together, the cool light emanating from them casting his shadow every direction he turned._ **

**_This was his prison. A large circular room, made of a marble floor and tall soft blue windows that reached 5 times his own height. The only thing in the large room was him, and a small balcony from where his captor watched him dance. His clothes, his food, the few things that he had were all given to him by his captor, leaving him with nothing of his former self._ **

**_Suddenly the music stopped, and his dance was brought to a halt. He felt his legs crumble from exhaustion and he fell to the floor. Gasping for air, he looked up to the balcony where the Lord of Nightmares watched above._ **

**_The Moon Prince was the most beautiful dancer in the world, displaying all his emotions in every dance he performed. He had been courted by many, but had refused them all, wanting only to be free to dance as he wished for all eternity. However, one day the Moon Prince had been dancing in his garden when the Lord of Nightmares stormed the palace, stealing him away and taking him far away from his home. Captured from his realm in the sky by the Lord of Nightmares, he was  imprisoned, forced to dance and entertain him for all eternity._ **

**_The Moon Prince looked up with tired eyes and felt his consciousness begin to fade as he heard the Lord of Nightmares speak._ **

**_“Rest now, for soon you will dance for me again.”_ **

 

*******************************************************************************************

 

Mikleo woke with a start to his alarm blasting at full volume. 6 am. He groaned and shut the alarm off, crawling out of bed and stumbling to the bathroom, briefly glancing out his apartment window at the city starting to wake up. Looking into the mirror, his violet eyes looked as exhausted as the Moon Prince had felt in his dream.

His imagination was starting to blur into his dreams again, and it made Mikleo consider trying to not get lost in his head so much. But old habits couldn’t be brought down that easily. As he showered he imagined the Lord of Nightmares continuing to force the Moon Prince to dance over and over again, demanding to see his sadness and solitude brought to life through his dancing. Mikleo shuddered as he got out of the shower, wondering why he couldn’t imagine something a little more happy and light hearted? He had started that story in his head many years ago, yet never found a way he wanted to end it.

Mikleo looked out at the city of Elysia. The sun was still rising above the tall buildings of the city. Mikleo liked the early morning for how quiet it was, though he knew soon it would be bustling with people.

He threw on a light sweater, jeans and a his glasses, grabbing a bowl of cereal before heading out the door. The cold winter air biting at his face, the only part that wasn’t covered by his large jacket.

He had a long day ahead of him and he wanted to get to the university as fast as possible to get some work done. Luckily his apartment was only a short 15 minute walk away, and the walk always helped clear his head. The streets were still quiet since it was before any actual classes were starting, but Mikleo liked to head into the studio early to practice. However his motivation was a little different today.

The dance building was quiet, as he walked over to a practice room. He quickly changed into a light shirt and tights that he had brought with him, relaxing at how the loose clothing felt compared to his stuffy sweater. He pulled out his ipod, plugging it into the stereo and switched the track to the latest song he had been asked to choreograph.

His best friend he had made at college, Rose, had recently written and scored her own musical, and was working on getting it finally put together.

The story was rather simple but classic. It told the story of a poor but kind shepherd who lived in isolation, far on the outskirts of the city. He was gentle and loving to all the animals he cared for and always helped any passerby he came across. However he longed for companionship of his own. But one day, a spirit came to him, saying that she would grant him the means to his wish. For three nights, the shepherd was granted a magical and beautiful set of clothes, money to spend for the allotted time and a goal to find someone who would become his companion. In the end the shepherd meets the princess of the nearby city at a ball and the two fall in love.

Mikleo loved the simplicity of the story and the music Rose had written for it was fantastic. She, of course, had asked Mikleo to help choreograph it for her, knowing his love for musicals, and him being a talented dancer. However it was the first time he had ever choreographed something in his life, so he had relied mostly on instinct and imagination to carry him through the last two songs he had created dances for. The final track to choreograph, he hoped would be simple.

The track came on over the speakers as Mikleo listened to the smooth demo song, a sweet and somber piano tune as he imagined a couple dancing, sharing a private moment, that only they would know. Mikleo stepped into a calm, ready position, gazing into the mirror as he watched the scene unfold in his mind.

**_The noble woman giggled at the stumbling man. While he was finely and cleanly dressed, he certainly lacked the composure one of his supposed stature should hold. Though little did the woman realize that he was really a poor shepherd boy, given wealth if only for a moment, allowing him to bask in the finer things in life._ **

**_The two of them had escaped the crowded room of the party, and had found themselves both out on the balcony together. The ballroom had quickly become stuffy and they had sought to escape the room full of nobles._ **

**_She held out her hand to him, beckoning him to dance with her. He took her soft hand and moved close. Her voice sang softly, accompanying the music as her feet glided in an obviously trained and specific manner. The man’s feet however stumbled a bit at first to keep up, but he kept his confidence and quickly started to learn. The song progressed, the two of them singing of a love undiscovered that could possibly be theirs. They turned, pivoted and leapt, all while singing and smiling. The woman turned to face the man, looking into his eyes, and-_ **

 

Nothing. Mikleo couldn’t figure out what to do next. How to finish the scene with the correct emotional impact? He sighed, deciding to take it from the top again. This had been his third attempt to try to figure out this last part, and he still couldn’t figure out the right way to make the scene rise up and feel like it should.

He ran it again and again, exhausting himself. Looking up at the clock, two hours had gone by and class would be starting soon. He decided he would have to come in again to get it right. Packing his things up, he headed off to his ballet class, down the hall from the practice rooms.

The students were filing in, all chatting with each other. Mikleo put his stuff down in the corner, situating himself and decided to stretch a bit before class started.

“Hey Mikleo, were you getting in some early morning dance practice?”

Mikleo’s head snapped up, seeing one of the girl’s in his class looking at him. Thrown off a bit by her sudden question, just mumbled out, “Oh! U-uh, yeah, you know just some general basic practice.”

“Oh? Cool.” She replied turning back to her friends.

_Smooth Mikleo…_ his inner voice chided in his head.

 

**_“Oh! I was actually doing some choreography. I’m helping a friend of mine with a musical she’s creating.”_ ** **He could have said.**

**_“Oh my gosh! That’s so cool, you definitely have to show me some time! What’s the musical about?”_ **

 

But the moment had passed, and he was left to stretch in his corner alone again. Too often he found himself drifting in his thoughts, not taking in everything around him. His classmates all seemed to get along so well among themselves, but Mikleo had no idea how to talk to them. He felt a strange disconnect and whenever someone tried to include him in a conversation he didn’t know what to say. Except for Rose, and maybe Edna, he hadn’t made any real friends. He just found it hard to let people into his life, scared of getting hurt again. And with all the daydreaming he did, he never focused too hard on a conversation he was listening to. Even as his professor came in droning on about doing their warm ups, Mikleo felt his mind and soul elsewhere as his body went through all the motions.

Luckily class passed quickly and he went to grab his things, noticing a message on his phone.

 

**Rose 1:00 pm:**

**Yo! Just woke up, heading to the auditorium for auditions, you’re done with class now right?**

 

**Mikleo 1:20 pm:**

**You just woke up?**

**Yeah I’ll meet you there.**

 

**Rose 1:20 pm:**

**Don’t need your snark, we can’t all be over achievers like you and get up at an “adult” time.**

**Also Edna’s gonna be at the auditions, said she wants to see which one is the worst.**

 

**Mikleo 1:21 pm:**

**Oh goody**

**See you in a bit.**

 

Mikleo quickly packed up his things, changed back into his warm sweater and jeans and headed back out into the nippy winter weather.

 

**********************************************************************************************

 

“Hurry up Sorey!”

Sorey’s friend Alisha was running across campus, as fast as she could in her kitten heels.

“Calm down, Alisha! It’s not first come, first serve!” Sorey shouted, laughing as he trailed behind her.

“But I want to get there early so we can be one of the first impressions they get!” Alisha yelled back.

Sorey supposed that made sense, as he chuckled behind her. They were both heading to a musical audition for an original musical from one of the students at Elysia University. To be honest it wasn’t Sorey’s idea to audition, but Alisha had convinced him, saying she wanted a friend to do it with. And it’s not like Sorey was inexperienced when it came to musical theater, he had done it when he was younger and a bit through high school. Plus Alisha had said Sorey had a beautiful voice and the personality for musicals, and Sorey felt he could trust her opinion.

The two stepped into the waiting room, where a couple dozen other people were waiting to audition, warming up their vocal chords at the same time. Sorey felt a little out of place. Everyone here seemed pretty in there element and laser-focused on nailing their audition. Sorey just hoped he wouldn’t embarrass himself. The song he picked was one that his friend had shown him a long time ago and it he got pretty emotional when he heard it.

“Yo Sorey! Alisha!”

Sorey out of the corner of his eye saw his friend and frat brother Zaveid. Of course Sorey had no idea what Zaveid was doing at an audition for a musical, considering that before Sorey left the house this morning Zaveid was teasing him about it.

“What are you doing here Zaveid? You know this is an audition for a musical right?” Sorey asked.

“Yeah of course, but I figured that I would come and help a bro out!” Zaveid said, slinging his arm around Sorey’s shoulder. “Ya see, the plan is that I go out there right before you, and do such a terrible job that you look incredible by comparison.”

Sorey laughed, shrugging Zaveid’s arm off his shoulder “Wow, that is a really selfless thing of you to do, but I don’t think you need to embarrass yourself like that for me.”

“I know, I know, I’m amazing, but no worries. I feel no shame if it’s to help out a fellow bro.” Zaveid said.

Sorey decided it best not to try and convince him otherwise. Alisha merely giggled beside him and went to go warm up and practice her song before going in, leaving Sorey to entertain Zaveid.

 

**********************************************************************************************

 

Mikleo walked into the auditorium, seeing Rose and Edna sitting at the desk, high up above in the seats. He looked at where they were seated with a quizzical look, wondering why they were so high up and all the lights except the stage lights were off. Carrying a coffee in one hand and his bag in the other, he almost tripped in the darkness of the theater.

“Is it really necessary to be this far away from the stage? And why is it so dark?” He asked, regaining his balance.

“You just don’t understand the need for intimidation during these auditions Meebo.” The short and monotone Edna said, not even looking up from the list of the people auditioning.

“I tried to change her mind too, but she thinks it’s actually effective in really putting on the pressure.” Rose exclaimed, smirking as she sipped her water.

Mikleo, didn’t seem too convinced as he put his stuff down at the desk and sat down. “Is there any reason for you to be here Edna? You’re just handling the set design aren’t you?”

“Is there any reason for the choreographer to be at a singing audition?” Edna said without batting an eye.

_Little twerp…_

“Besides Meebo, you just don’t understand the beauty of a terrible, terrible musical theater audition. Nothing gives me thrills, like watching people think they’re great, but really they sound like a dying kitten.”

“Yeah, I bet you love watching innocent things die.” Mikleo bit back.

“Now, now, don’t fight mom and dad.” Rose teased alleviating the tension in the room. “How is the choreography for the couple’s dance scene going Mikleo?”

Mikleo gulped, looking down. “Um, well I haven’t been able to completely finish it yet…”

“Oh Meebo! Having some trouble in wonderland?” Edna smirked.

Mikleo glared at her.

_How does someone so short have so much snark in them. Damn I should have said that!_

“Give him a break Edna, Mikleo hasn’t done choreography before, but i trust his skill.” Rose chimed in. “Just take whatever process you need to, even if it means fantasizing stories in your head.”

“Hmm, true. Your choreography for the group dances so far were good, maybe it’s just the challenge of making it romantic, since you lack a heart.” Edna said, half-complimenting him.

“You sure, you’re not talking about yourself?” Mikleo asked back.

“Okay!” Rose chimed in. “Let’s call in the first person!”

 

**********************************************************************************************

 

Sorey watched Zaveid from the side of the stage. He was on-deck to go after Zaveid, who was definitely making good on his deal to make Sorey look good, because he was really going crazy on stage. Sorey tried to hold in a laugh as Zaveid started doing high kicks, trying out some improv dance moves to liven up his performance.

Alisha had already gone, nailing her song. Sorey heard the creators of the musical clapping for her the second she finished, telling her she did great. Sorey hoped he could make a lasting impression as well. It was tricky since he couldn’t see the judges, he didn’t really have anyone to sing his song to, so he decided that he would just have to sing in their general direction. Though it felt a bit intimidating to sing to just a dark empty void.

Zaveid finished his performance, laying on the floor, exhausted from all the extreme dancing he did. Sorey heard one of the judges, a girl say into the mic “Thank you for that trainwreck of an audition, it will keep me entertained for weeks.” Sorey smirked as Zaveid winked back at him before exiting the stage.

“Next!” Sorey heard another girl say from up in the seats.

Sorey a deep breath. And walked out onto the stage

 

**********************************************************************************************

 

“Yikes! That last guy was awful.” Rose said sighing. “He barely knew any of the words to the song too.”

“Yes it was magnificent.” Edna said, an almost scary smile for her, Mikleo thought.

“I imagine he wasn’t actually trying to get the part, just trying to waste our time.” Mikleo said. “There’s a lot of people out there like that.”

“Hmph, I didn’t see it as a waste. Only as quality entertainment.” Edna smirked.

“Well we should keep going to make up for the time we lost then.” Rose said, chuckling. “Next!”

Mikleo was exhausted, all these auditions were starting to blur together. Only a few had been stand outs and they were all girls, leaving no one to play the male lead of the shepherd. He hoped someone promising would turn up soon, otherwise the musical could be in danger.

He turned his head to look at the person walking out on stage, and immediately felt his heart sink.

On stage, without a doubt. It was him. His childhood friend. His childhood friend who he hadn’t seen or heard from him in seven years. And the last time he had heard from him, his friend had confessed to him and Mikleo had ran away scared to say anything back.

But there he was, on stage, auditioning for this musical, and Mikleo didn’t have anywhere to run this time.

“Um, Hi!” His old friend had said from the stage. “My name is Sorey.”

_I know._

“I love musical theater, I grew up doing it.”

_I know._

“And, today I’m going to be singing one of my favorite songs, Run Away With Me by Kerrigan Lowdermilk. I learned this song from an old friend of mine, and it reminds me a lot of him.”


	2. Chapter 2: Run Away With Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya'll Sormik week is here woohoo. Here is the first song for this fic, all you have to do is click open up the youtube link and follow the pictures below with the words!

Open the Youtube link below or follow the tumblr link if you would like to view it through tumblr instead:<http://alikitcatart.tumblr.com/post/163349143133/out-of-my-head-chapter-2#notes>

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42kkG-gtf_o>

 


	3. Chapter 3: Act 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is here, this is another standard chapter, and I'll have the song/picture chapter for you tomorrow!  
> Hope you're enjoying Sormik week, and stay tuned for more!

Chapter 2

 

**_“Okay Sorey! You play the hero, the Knight of the Sun!”_ **

**_“Awesome! And you’ll be the Moon Prince, right Mikleo?”_ **

**_Sorey and Mikleo ran down the side of the hill to the river below. The two 12 year olds had been left to play in the large backwoods of Elysia, where they often visited to act out stories that Mikleo came up with. Mikleo thought of the story, plot and characters, while Sorey acted them out with Mikleo directing him._ **

**_“Yeah, but you’re the leading man okay!” Mikleo said, excitedly. “Remember your character is heroic and he and the Moon Prince are best friends!”_ **

**_Sorey nodded, “Got it! I’ll be the most noble knight you’ve ever seen! The Lord of Nightmares quivers before my sword of sun!”_ **

**_Sorey held up a plastic toy sword he had brought with him from home and slashed and the invisible monsters in the air. Mikleo giggled, not wanting to be left out of the fun ran up behind Sorey._ **

**_“Yes, Sir Knight. You must defeat the Lord of Nightmares, and protect our kingdom in the sky!” The blue haired boy shouted out._ **

**_“Yes your highness!” Sorey said running forward deeper into the woods, with Mikleo trailing behind him._ **

**_The two boys played until late in the evening when Mikleo’s mother called them back inside for dinner. The two ate quickly, talking about what should happen next in the story. Once they had finished they ran up to the balcony, to watch the sunset before Sorey had to head back home._ **

**_“Your stories are always so much fun Mikleo!” Sorey said, as the two of them looked out across the town. The suburban part of Elysia was full of endless houses, but Mikleo’s stood out as being mostly wood and with a tall balcony on the 2nd floor. “It’s too bad we never get to finish them. Seems like we never have enough time to get to the end.”_ **

**_“Yeah, it’s always hard to figure out how a story should end though, so maybe it’s better that way. Then we can just enjoy the fun part in the middle.” Mikleo said smiling at Sorey._ **

**_“I guess that’s true, still the one today was really fun, I’d love to know how it ends!”_ **

**_Mikleo nodded and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. Rather it would have been but something was off with Sorey. He was fidgeting around, and seemed to be lost in thought. It was unusual for Sorey to stay quiet for long, he usually talked endlessly._ **

**_Sorey looked down, suddenly seeming nervous. It didn’t go unnoticed by Mikleo, who put his hand on Sorey’s shoulder. “Hey are you okay?”_ **

**_Sorey twiddled his fingers for a moment, then looked up determined and looked Mikleo straight in the eye. “Mikleo! I like you!” Sorey shouted out. “I mean… I like you as more than just a friend!”_ **

**_Mikleo’s violet eyes widened. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t know what Sorey was saying, but was he serious?  Sorey looked so passionate, he knew he wasn’t joking, and he knew that Sorey wasn’t the kind of person who would ever joke about that. But all the same Mikleo didn’t know what to say. He continued to look at Sorey in the eyes, saying nothing, silently wishing Sorey might say he was joking. But Sorey didn’t budge._ **

**_“I-I know you may not feel the same way about me.” Sorey started again, Mikleo still not fully registering everything. “But, I-I do wanna hear how you feel about me too…”_ **

**_What should he say? He had no idea, Sorey wasn’t kidding, but did Mikleo feel the same way? He had always thought they were just friends. Mikleo felt his heart sinking, becoming more and more scared and unsure of what he should do._ **

**_“I-I don’t know. I don’t know how I feel about you, I can’t answer that question, I’m sorry.” Mikleo finally spoke quietly. He looked down at his feet, scared to meet Sorey in the eyes. He didn’t want to see the disappointment, or worse the anger Sorey might be feeling. Anger towards Mikleo for not feeling the same._ **

**_He heard Sorey shuffle and stand up next to him. “I understand, I’m… sorry. Sorry I just put so much pressure on you.” Sorey said. Mikleo could hear the hurt in his voice and it broke his heart. “I’m gonna head home. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”_ **

**_Mikleo listened to Sorey pick up his bad behind him. He didn’t dare turn around. He just stared out over the city and wondered how it had fallen so quiet except for the sound of Sorey shuffling around._ **

**_And just like that Sorey was gone._ **

 

**_*******************************************************************************************_ **

 

**_The next morning Mikleo walked into his classroom and sat down at his desk. He didn’t want to be here. Usually, he loved school. He and Sorey together loved talking about the subjects they learned in school, but right now Mikleo didn’t want to talk Sorey, didn’t even want to see him._ **

**_The bell rang and Mikleo looked to Sorey’s desk, finding that he wasn’t in it. But why?_ **

**_Mikleo felt his heart sink again, in the same way it did yesterday. The fear that Sorey might hate him now, was hitting even harder. Perhaps Sorey didn’t come to school because he didn’t want to see Mikleo either. Mikleo’s refusal to give an answer might have cost him his friendship with Sorey._ **

**_The school day went by so slowly. Mikleo couldn’t keep his mind on anything that the teacher said, and the more time that past the more Mikleo let his mind wander to all the terrible things Sorey would say once he saw him. He kept trying to convince himself that Sorey would never be mean or get angry towards Mikleo. But then again Mikleo had never suspected that Sorey would tell him that he liked him either. Sorey coming to hate him too might not be out of the realm of possibility._ **

**_The second the final bell rang, Mikleo dashed out the door. He couldn’t take it anymore. He wasn’t ready, but he wanted to hear Sorey yell at him. He wanted to hear the anger that kept his friend home the entire day from school. Mikleo knew it was better to get it done and over with rather continue to put it off._ **

**_Mikleo ran up to Sorey’s doorstep and rang the doorbell. He waited._ **

**_But no one came to answer the door._ **

**_Mikleo rang the doorbell again, and again, but still no answer. He started banging on the door, yelling for someone to answer him._ **

**_“Sorey! I know your home! It’s me, Mikleo, please open the door!”_ **

**_Suddenly the door flung open and Mikleo saw Sorey’s father standing in the doorway._ **

**_“Shut up you little brat!” He yelled down at Mikleo. “Sorey isn’t here okay?! He’s gone! He left town and he’s not coming back! So leave me alone!”_ **

**_And with that the door was slammed back in his face._ **

**_Mikleo was stunned, he didn’t know what to do. He turned around and started to walk home. All the hurtful things he imagined Sorey would say never came. So they became worse and worse. The Sorey in Mikleo’s mind yelled at him, said he never wanted to see him again. Told him that he had never liked hanging out with him. Told him he was a terrible person, and a terrible friend._ **

**_And with that Mikleo started to cry. He cried the straight 10 minutes back home. Sobbing, wishing someone would yell at him so he could get the punishment he deserved for not answering Sorey’s question._ **

**_But nobody came. Sorey was gone._ **

 

*******************************************************************************************

 

Mikleo was snapped back to reality, hearing Rose and Edna next to him clapping. Sorey had finished his song and did a short bow, before moving to walk off stage. 

“Thank you, hope you enjoyed it!” He said as he exited the auditorium. 

“Thank YOU Sorey! You’ll hear from us soon.” Rose shouted after him, and turning to Edna and Mikleo once he was off the stage. “He’s perfect guys! We’ve gotta choose him!”

“Cool those jets Rose, we still have another 30 people or so to get through.” Edna said calmly, “Though he’s definitely the frontrunner.”

“He’s perfect! He’s totally the image of the Shepherd I get in my head, voice, personality and all!” Rose said jumping out of her seat. “No one else will even compare!”

“You’re clearly good at being an impartial judge.” Edna said examining the list of auditioners.

“Who cares? I’m the director, I get the final say anyways.”Rose said smugly. “Hey what did you think of him Mikleo?”

“Wh-what?” Mikleo was snapped out of his daze. He hadn’t processed or listened to anything that the two girls had said. His head was flooded and dizzy with thoughts and emotions and he had no idea how to process any of them. “I-I, um, I need a second!” 

With that Mikleo jumped out of his seat and ran out the back door of the auditorium, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. The last time he had seen Sorey was when he told him he couldn’t return his feelings at the moment, and there had been nothing in his life since that he regretted more than that. 

Not because he said nothing at all at the time, but because he realized that once Sorey was gone that he loved him the same way Sorey had loved him. He had felt the same way and he was too scared to say anything. Mikleo had cursed himself over and over again about it, even though he knew that it wouldn’t change anything. He had rejected Sorey and he never should have. Because now it was seven years later, and there was no chance Sorey felt that way anymore. But even worse Sorey could still be angry at him for not reciprocating his feelings. That could have been festering for seven years, and now it would all come out if Sorey saw Mikleo again. 

Mikleo had just been lucky that the auditorium was so dark that Sorey couldn’t see Mikleo.

He stumbled into the hallway, relieved to find it empty and he leaned up against the wall exhausted and wanting nothing more than to sink through the floor and disappear. What could he do now? Sorey had entered his life again, and Mikleo had no idea where they had left off. Mikleo felt the tears start to well up and spill down his face, but he couldn’t stop them. His thoughts were all about Sorey and the feeling of dread of what he would say to him.

Suddenly he heard the door he came from open, and saw Rose there walking up to him.

“Hey Mikky, are you okay?” She asked concerned, walking up to him.

What could he say? If Rose knew how he had treated Sorey back when they were kids, maybe Rose would think Mikleo would do the same to her. Abandon her in a time of need and never speak to her again. Rose didn’t know what a terrible person Mikleo was on the inside. She didn’t know that he was someone who would leave a friend when they were hurting, just because he was scared. She couldn’t know that, Mikleo couldn’t tell her.

“I-I, was just moved, by his song you know.” Mikleo said through his tears. “He performed it really well, ya’know?”

Convincing enough he hoped, and Rose seemed a little reluctant but looked like she accepted it.

“Yeah, for real. Almost got me crying a bit there too” She said with an unsure smile on her face. “Well, when you’ve composed yourself enough to be seen by Edna again, come back in. We’ll wait for you, before we send the next person in.” Rose walked back towards the auditorium door, but stopped to turn around.

“Oh! And if you ever wanna tell me what’s really bothering you, you know you can always talk to me.” She said, chipper as ever.

Mikleo just watched as she closed the door behind her, leaving him alone again with his thoughts, more paranoid than before. 

What could he do now? She knew something was up and she would have to tell her eventually. 

_ Why didn’t I tell her? I could have just told her! Then everything would have been fine! Or would it, then she would know I lied for sure, and then she would distrust me and hate me and… and… _

_ And how will I explain myself to Edna? Plus Rose thought Sorey was really good, which means he might get the lead, and if that happens, I’ll have to meet him. And what does Sorey think of me, especially after what I did and all the years he had to think about it. _

_ Oh god! What should I do? _

 

*******************************************************************************************

 

10 minutes or so passed, before Mikleo walked back into the auditorium, situating himself back in his seat.

“Done crying?” Edna asked next to him.

_ Brat. _

“He was just emotional because he likes that song Edna, give him a break.” Rose said casually, not even looking up from her phone. “Ready to start again Mikky?”

_ Thank you Rose. _

Mikleo nodded, happy that he didn’t have to hear anymore from Edna.

Rose smiled knowingly, and turned towards the stage.

“NEXT!”

 

*******************************************************************************************

 

“Sorey you crushed it! I bet those judges were crying in their seats up there” Zaveid belted out slapping Sorey on the back. “They thought that just because we couldn’t actually see them, they could intimidate us but no way! Those judges probably didn’t even know what hit em!”

“Zaveid, they’re not judges, they’re casting directors!” Alisha said taking a sip of her tea.

“Ehh whatever! Same diff!” Zaveid said taking a swig of the beer in his hand.

“They are most certainly not! A casting director is…” 

The Pub was loud and packed with people, all eager to get drunk and fed on a friday night. Zaveid had insisted they go out to celebrate their great auditions, and he would pay. Zaveid had already had 2 beers and was nursing his third, while Alisha had just stuck to tea. Sorey had a basket of fries with a coke in front of him, taking the chance to indulge in some unhealthy food on Zaveid’s dime.

“Whatever, it’s not like an original musical has enough people to have a separate person who’s just a casting director.” Zaveid said as he took another large sip.

Sorey chuckled watching the two of them bicker, Alisha trying to get Zaveid to understand musical theater terminology. She was explaining the classics, different composers and performers, all who were famous on broadway, and Sorey enjoyed every second of seeing Zaveid in a different environment. Typically Zaveid and Sorey would have to be at a party for their fraternity, but they decided to ditch it for the night to have a more quiet celebration.

“Look Alisha, I get that you’re trying to help, but I really don’t care about West Side Story, or Hamilton okay? I just did the audition so Sorey would look good.” Zaveid said clearly tired of Alisha going on and on.

“I think you made everyone look better with that performance of yours. Nobody could have been that bad by accident.” Sorey chimed in.

“You’re welcome bro, and to make it up to me, you can buy me another beer. Waiter!”

“I thought you were paying for tonight?!” Sorey asked.

Alisha laughed, watching Zaveid pour another beer for himself, and taking a large drink of it.

“I’m surprised though man. I wouldn’t peg you for the musical theater type.” Zaveid said looking up from his drink.

“I was too!” Alisha exclaimed, looking suddenly very interested. “I mean I kind of dragged you to the audition, but you really went all out!”

Sorey looked down at his fries, feeling very aware of the interest on him. 

“Oh yeah, well I had a friend from back when I was a kid who was pretty into it.”Sorey said, taking a bite of a fry. “Though he was more on the dancing side than singing.”

Sorey could almost feel Zaveid’s interest spike and his eyebrow raise, as the taller man leaned in, nudging Sorey in the arm. 

“Oh ho? A childhood friend of Sorey’s? Pray tell what were they like?” Zaveid smirked at him. 

“Hmm? Oh, he was great. He was a little quiet, but he would think of all these crazy cool stories in his head and we would act them out together. He was kind of skinny and really pretty so I would usually play the knight and he would be a prince or something that, that I would rescue.” Sorey said fondly recalling his memories.

“Mmmhmm? So you liked him right?” Zaveid said, eyebrow raised. “Like you reaaaalllyy liked him?”

Sorey almost choked on his soda. Eyes wide, Sorey was almost shocked how consistently dead on Zaveid was about who people liked. He had guessed right with their frat brother Dezel just a couple weeks ago, and Dezel had only mentioned the girl’s name. 

Sorey also just felt embarrassed at himself. Even though it was a long time, Sorey was scared his feelings were still obvious. But he couldn’t help it. He just had never met anyone quite like his friend, and had never re-found that spark that he had felt with him. He still had strong feelings for Mikleo and they had never gone away.

But he didn’t really want Zaveid prying into that, especially since it was all in the past, and Sorey didn’t have a chance with Mikleo, not anymore.

“Not like that Zaveid. He was just a friend… who I hung out with a lot before I had to leave town.” Sorey said directing his eyes at anything but Zaveid’s smug face. “We never kept in contact after I left, anyways, neither of us had a phone or email at the time.”

Alisha looked a little sad at that. “That’s too bad, sounds like he had pretty big influence on you.”

_ More than you know Alisha. _

“So why’d you have to leave town?” Zaveid asked, taking a sip of his new beer.

“Zaveid!” Alisha snapped at Zaveid.

“Huh?! What? What did I say?” 

“That’s personal, I’m sure Sorey doesn’t want to talk about something like that while we’re supposed to be celebrating!” Alisha said, agitated at Zaveid’s lack of tact.

“Well how was I supposed to know?”

“It’s okay guys!” Sorey said interrupting them. He felt a little uncomfortable, but it couldn’t hurt to share his story, since they were all friends “I… was planning on telling you eventually Zaveid but it just never came up.”

Sorey took in a deep breath. He had only ever shared this story with Alisha before, but he knew he could trust Zaveid.

“When I 12 my mom passed away in a sudden car accident. She had been the one who primarily had taken care of me, so when she passed, my grandma thought my dad was unfit to take care of me, so she took custody of me. She meant well, but she was pretty strict. She came the same night my mother passed and took me away the next morning. She was really intent on keeping my dad out of the picture. And honestly it was probably for the best. My dad could barely take care of himself, let alone another person.”

“I’m sorry man, I didn’t know.” Zaveid said, sincerely.

“It’s fine Zaveid. I know you didn’t mean any harm by it. I think it mostly worked out for the best. Besides once I came to college I was pretty free to do what I want.” Sorey said, smiling.

“Were you ever able to contact that friend of yours again?” Alisha asked.

Sorey shook his head. “No, just never found a way to do it.”

“But you want to see him again right?” Alisha asked again, clearly stuck on the subject.

“Um.. well yeah, maybe. But… I don’t know if he’d want to.” Sorey said a little shaken by Alisha’s insistence.

“What? Why would he not want to see you?” Zaveid said, also clearly getting focused on the topic.

“Huh? Oh, well we just didn’t end on the best terms…” Sorey said trying to get them to drop the subject.

“Oh!” Alisha suddenly very excited, almost jumped out of her seat. “You should invite him to see the musical! Then you can make up with him and you’ll get to hang out again!”

“What!?”

“Yeah!” Zaveid excited as well. “That’s an awesome idea for a date Alisha!”

Sorey blushed immediately. Flustered, tried to calm them down. “N-no you two! I… I don’t even have feelings for him anymore.”

“ANYMORE?!” His two friends suddenly looked at him. 

“I thought you said it wasn’t like that Sorey?” Alisha said eyeing him quizzically. “You said you didn’t like this childhood friend like that!”

“Oh ho? Thought you could pull the wool over our eyes huh?” Zaveid said smirking. “I would guess from that blush too, that you still have feelings for him!”

Sorey felt himself getting redder by the second. His friends had caught him and there was no escape.

“Oh my gosh! Are you serious Zaveid!?” Alisha said, excited again. “If that’s true we definitely have to set them up!”

Sorey was finished, he could hear them discussing plans to find Sorey’s childhood friend and set them up together.

“STOP IT!” Sorey yelled. Suddenly feeling very embarrassed as the pub went silent, all its patrons turning to him. He ducked his head down, until they all turned away and went back to their own conversations.

“I...I’m telling you guys… ugh.” Sorey sighed, holding his head in his hands.

_ No point in hiding it now. _

“He doesn’t like me back okay?” Sorey confessed. “I told him how I felt, and he didn’t return my feelings…”

Zaveid and Alisha turned to each other, clearly disappointed. Zaveid putting his hand on Sorey’s shoulder comforting him. 

“Hey man, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Zaveid said quietly.

Alisha looked up at Sorey, hopefully “Well, maybe he has feelings for you now! You never know?” 

“Yeah, after 7 years of not talking to each other?” Sorey said glumly.

“I…” Alisha didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”

The trio fell silent for a moment, letting them all consider everything that had been said. 

“I…. I’m gonna head back home okay?” Sorey said getting up and grabbing his jacket. 

“Sure, I’ll see you back at the house man.” Zaveid said understanding that Sorey needed some time to himself.

As Sorey walked out the door Alisha turned to Zaveid. 

“Oh Zaveid… he looked so sad.”

“Yeah. He definitely still has feelings for that guy, strong feelings.” Zaveid said looking at his now empty glass.

“I wish we could help him some way.”

“Me too, Alisha. Me too.”

  
  


*******************************************************************************************

 

**_The woman turned to face the man, backlit by the bustling party going on, inside the palace walls. The man turned to her and-_ **

 

“AGH!” 

Mikleo threw his arms up in exhaustion. It had been a week of trying to figure out the last part for this dance and he still wasn’t any closer than he had been before. 

His practice room was calm, with the music from Rose’s score playing quietly in the background. But on the inside Mikleo was a mess. He collapsed on the floor, dramatically, although there was no one around to see it.

His head had been filled with nothing but thoughts of Sorey and what to do about his sudden appearance. Would he hate Mikleo? After all those years how could he not. Mikleo remembered the day after Sorey had told him that he liked him Mikleo knew that Sorey would yell at him, tell him he hated him, but Mikleo never heard it. Imagine how angry Sorey must be at him now. That had just been one day, what would seven years worth of anger be like?

And it would hurt even more, now that Mikleo was painfully aware of his own feelings for Sorey. He never imagined that he would still have these feelings all these years later. But they were stronger than ever now that Sorey had reappeared. If Sorey was still angry at him, Mikleo wasn’t sure he would be able to take it.

Was Mikleo’s heart ready for something like that? He had tried to face it when he was younger, but it had never gotten resolved, and Mikleo was left to just worry for the rest of his life, instead of find any semblance of resolution. All he had was Sorey’s angry father yelling at him, telling him to leave.

Suddenly, the door to his practice room swung open and in marched Rose.

“How’s my favorite choreographer doing?” She asked cheerily.

“He’s got no idea what he’s doing in his life.” Mikleo said still lying on the ground. “He’s ready to give up and join the circus.”

“Well do that after you finish this last part.” She said, sitting down next to him. “Are you finished yet?”

“No ma’am, still not any closer.” Mikleo said eyes closed not wanting to see Rose’s angry face.

“Seriously Mikky? It’s been a whole week, you only need to choreograph another couple minutes.”

Mikleo sighed, sitting up to look at Rose. “Yeah, believe me, I know. But it’s not like I’ve done this before. I’m really just winging this choreography thing.”

Rose smiled, and stood up walking to get Mikleo’s water bottle.

“If you call choreographing two incredible, group dance numbers ‘winging it’, then you’re gonna kill it in the actual industry.” Rose handed Mikleo’s water bottle to him, and he took a sip, unsure of what to say.

“Look Mikleo. You told me that you came up with those other dances because you imagined the scene in your mind and just fantasized how it would go, then picked the best parts you saw in your head and put them together. So why not just do that.”

Mikleo looked up at her. “I’ve been trying that, believe me, but it hasn’t worked, I just can’t think of what should come next.”

“Hmm…” Rose contemplated for a moment before sitting back down in front of Mikleo. “Look, I know that the story you’re choreographing for is mine, and I definitely take a lot of pride in my work. But maybe you should try thinking of another story and implementing that in the dance instead. It might help to get another perspective.”

“Another story? Like what?”

Rose thought for a moment. “Hmm. What about another musical that you like. Oh!” Rose stood up excitedly. “You should use that Moon Prince story you were thinking of!”

Mikleo flushed. “What?! How do you know about that?” Mikleo had never told anyone that story except for Sorey, and that had been seven years ago.

“I saw you writing in your notebook about it one time.” Rose’s memory was scary. “The Moon Prince is a dancer right. Just use him for inspiration!”

Mikleo thought for a second. It wasn’t a terrible idea, he had thought of dances before using stories he had come up with in his head as inspiration. He nodded slowly accepting the idea.

“Great!” Rose slapped him on the shoulder, and stood up. “I know you can do this Mikleo! Everything amazing that’s ever been made has taken time. This is no different. Just do your best!”

And with that Rose left the room, leaving Mikleo alone in the room.

_ The Moon Prince, huh? _

It seemed easy enough, but it might still take some time. Mikleo grabbed his ipod, looking through his show tunes playlist. He picked one, and lied back down on the floor, letting his mind take over and his imagination to run free.

He didn’t think about Sorey for the rest of the day.

 

*******************************************************************************************

 

**_Soft crying filled the room. Blue light, the only kind of light that ever came through the windows, was flooding the circular room, casting long shadows on the figure who laid in the center. The Moon Prince was shaking, as tears poured from his eyes, he hugged his legs to his chest, the pain shooting from his feet all through his body._ **

**_He had been dancing for at least a day straight, without stopping once. Even when the Lord of Nightmares left the room, he kept the music playing forcing the young prince to dance continuously._ **

**_His captor’s cruelty knew few boundaries, but for now the Moon Prince was left to rest. But the pain was too extreme. He would have to wait until it subsided before he would be able to even fall asleep. And at that point he may be forced to dance again, without sufficient rest._ **

**_The Moon Prince focused on anything else but the pain. He looked at the windows, tall and towering. The intricate design on the ceiling that he had stared at every day he had been kept here. The smooth and sleek, shine of the floor that had never once been marked up by the endless movement of his high heels._ **

**_Would he ever escape this place? The prince knew he could do nothing on his own. He had no chance of defeating the Lord of Nightmares. If only someone would come to his aid. But he had waited for so long and not one person came for him. Perhaps no one truly cared about the Moon Prince. He would be forced to dance forever for his captor._ **

**_The prince found that the pain was fading and his eyelids were growing heavy. But before the darkness took him, he noticed, what he thought was a small yellow shine in the window. But he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer, and sleep took him._ **


	4. Chapter 4: Losing My Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second song/picture chapter. Same as the last one, this serves as a small passage of time between two chapters.  
> All art is mine, hope you enjoy!

If you prefer to view this in Tumblr for any reason you can follow this link here. 

<http://alikitcatart.tumblr.com/post/163457712328/out-of-my-head-chapter-4>

Read this one the same as the last, just open up the youtube link below and follow along with the words on the pictures.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoZVxPTvGp4>


	5. Chapter 5: Act 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the final chapter! I hope you've enjoyed this fic! Can't wait for next year's Sormik week, until then, feel free to check out my art twitter, if you wanna see more art updates.   
> https://twitter.com/artsyantatee?lang=en

Chapter 3

 

Sorey wakes up to his cellphone ringing. Wondering why it’s going off when he knows he never set and alarm he sees that someone is calling him. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he sees that it’s already close to midday. 

The last few days he’s felt tired, mostly mentally, and it had been harder for him to get out of bed. Ever since that night at the pub, Sorey had been thinking back on his childhood more and more, and the regret just kept piling up. Perhaps things would have been different if he hadn’t confessed to his friend. 

No. That wouldn’t have made a difference, Sorey still would have been taken away. But maybe, his friend wouldn’t have looked so upset and hurt, when he had told him. Especially since that had been the last time he’d seen him. Sorey just hated that the last impression his friend had gotten was that Sorey was trying to force his feelings on him. But there was little he could do about it now.

Sorey turned, quickly grabbing his phone, attempting to clear his throat and get the sleep out of his voice. 

“Yes, hello? This is Sorey.” he says answering the phone. 

“Hey Sorey! Glad I could reach you!” The voice over the phone was cheery and strong. It helped wake Sorey up a bit more, hearing someone that happy over the phone. “My name’s Rose, I’m the director for the musical that you auditioned for a week ago.”

That woke him up “Oh! Oh, great! Um, yes, good to hear from you.”

He heard the girl Rose snicker a bit over the phone at Sorey’s bumbling. “Yeah, so I wanted you to come in sometime for a... dance callback, let’s call it. See I think you’re perfect for the lead role of the Shepherd honestly, but my set designer slash aggressive casting co-director wants to see your dance moves first.”

Hearing that made Sorey a bit nervous. He wasn’t the best at dancing, and hadn’t really attempted much of it besides the small amount he had done with his friend back when they were kids. “Um, sure, I guess I could come in sometime to do that.”

“Awesome! If you’re free today I could come meet you. Then the choreographer and I could show you the dance set.”

“Today?” Sorey said glancing at the clock. It was already 1pm. Yikes, he had really slept in. “Sure I don’t see why not?”

“Cool meet me at outside of the library at 3 and we’ll walk to the dance studios together. See ya then?” 

“Sounds good! See you soon.” And with that Sorey hung up, flopping back on his bed. He had to get ready soon, he thought glancing at the clock. He got himself up, and went to go change and brush his teeth. 

Walking down the hallway of his fraternity house he saw Zaveid heading towards him. He gulped, realizing he hadn’t actually spoken to Zaveid much since he had walked out of the pub the night of the audition. But Sorey decided he didn’t want to keep the silence up, and gave a soft “hey.” as he walked by him.

Suddenly Sorey felt a yank on the back of his shirt and he was thrown against the wall.

“Hey?! That’s all I get is ‘hey’!? After a whole week of you not talking to me?!” Zaveid was up in his face yelling at him. 

“I-I’m sorry Zaveid! Really I am. I just didn’t know what to say after the other night.” Sorey said looking down, finding it hard to look Zaveid in the eye.

“Look at me!” Zaveid yelled, drawing Sorey’s eyes up. “I don’t know what happened with this guy in the past that’s got you so down, every time you think of him-”

“It’s not every time I-”

“- But you need to pull yourself together! You are a great guy Sorey, and anybody would be lucky to have you.” Zaveid said, pulling back a bit.

Sorey looked at Zaveid and just smiled. 

“Thanks.” Sorey said softly. “You’re a good guy Zaveid.” 

“I know, I know. Just wanna make sure you know that you are too.” Sorey looked a little shocked at him but was grateful regardless. Zaveid wasn’t the most tactful guy, but he knew how to cheer Sorey up when he was feeling down.

“So what are you gonna do when you meet this guy again?” Zaveid asked.

“What?!” Sorey groaned. He couldn’t believe they were back on this topic. Sorey had hoped that Zaveid would just drop it. There wasn’t anything either of them could do. It’s not like Sorey would ever see his friend again.

“I’ll tell you what you’re gonna do! You’re gonna look them dead in the eye and tell them you love em. Tell em you thought about them every day since you had to leave town when you were younger.”

“I-I haven’t thought about him every day!” Sorey shouted back.

“Uh-huh. Sure buddy. Anyways you tell them that, and that you aren’t the same without them, that they complete you!” Sorey could feel his blush creeping back. “And tell em that you wanna be with them forever, and then sing one of those corny broadway songs about love or whatever!”

“Th-there’s no way I can do that!” Sorey yelled back at Zaveid.

“Yes you can! Cause you’re the nicest guy I know! And you deserve happiness! You hear me?! YOU DESERVE HAPPINESS!!”

“Zaveid please! You’re embarrassing me!” Sorey shouted, trying to get Zaveid to calm down.

“TOO BAD! You need to hear this, and believe it!” Zaveid pointing to Sorey’s chest. “YOU DESERVE HAPPINESS!!!!”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!!” 

Out of one of the bedrooms shot one of their frat brothers, Dezel. Usually he was pretty quiet but he looked pretty pissed. His hair was messy and mostly pulled over his eyes.

“Can you guys just shut up! I don’t need to hear you guys yelling about your relationship drama while I’m trying to study!” Dezel yelled. “God why do I have to listen to this crap every day, I wish my room wasn’t so close to the bathroom!”

“S-sorry Dezel, we’ll be quieter.” Sorey said softly, still reeling from his outburst.

“I’m trying to give my bro a pep talk here. I have to be loud.” Zaveid said matter-of-factly.

“Your advice is bad anyways, why would anyone wanna listen to it.” Dezel said moving to go back to his room. “Though I suppose this time it was pretty good, up until the singing the broadway song.”

Dezel closed the door to his room, and Sorey was left alone with Zaveid again.

“Look Zaveid, I really appreciate the advice and the pep talk. I promise I’ll do my best, if I ever meet them again.” Sorey said looking up at the taller man.

“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear bro.” Zaveid said patting him on the back.

Maybe there was some hope, Sorey thought. Zaveid’s passion made him want to believe too. Even though, deep down, Sorey thought it was mostly hopeless. He would probably never speak to Mikleo again.

  
  


*******************************************************************************************

 

He found it! He was making real progress!

Mikleo had been trying Rose’s strategy all morning and he was finally figuring out the last dance piece. Only a few more steps left to plan out. 

He had been using his childhood story of the Moon Prince as inspiration, helping him imagine a romantic, yet somber story and dance. He had found it was really helping. 

The whole week his mind had been spinning between thoughts of Sorey and this choreography, but right now he was laser focused on finishing the dance.

Mikleo pivoted and stepped, jumping and spinning to the music.

Suddenly he heard his phone ring, and he walked over to it, turning his music off.

“Hello?”

“Hey Mikky! It’s Rose! Look I know you’re practicing now and figuring out the choreography but I need your help.” Rose yelled into the phone “See I need to run a dance set with one of our possible cast members, just to see if they can actually dance. So I’m heading over, in like, hmmm, 15 minutes. So be ready to show them the dance set for the male lead from the first act!”

“Huh? Wait Rose!” But she had already hung up. Mikleo shrugged it off, figuring it was no use trying to talk her out of it. He got back into his zen place he had been before. He was finally focused and his head was clear. Only a little more left until the dance was complete. He was almost there.

  
  


*******************************************************************************************

 

“Heeeeeyyy! Sorey!” Sorey looked up from his phone. The cold winter air had got him shivering while he was waiting for Rose. He had tried to keep himself busy in the meantime by playing a game on his phone but it left his fingers freezing. He saw a girl with red hair, and a warm looking hoodie and a layered denim jacket running to him.

“Hi” he said as she approached him. “Are you Rose?”

“The one and only! Pleased to meet you!” The girl extended her hand and Sorey took it shaking it firmly. “I’m the director and creator of the musical!”

“Wow! That’s incredible.” Sorey was genuinely impressed. He had no idea how much work went into making an original musical, only that it was a lot. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about making a musical, only acting in them.”

Rose started leading the two of them over to the school of dance’s building as they talked more. She seemed cheery and bright. Nothing like Sorey had expected from his audition, where the casting directors just looked intimidating.

“No worries” Rose said. “I didn’t know much before I started this project either, but it forced me to learn.”

“Yeah, I’m sure there’s a lot to figure out for it.”

“Oh definitely, but it helps I’m working with a team that are really good at what they do!” Rose exclaimed. “Like the choreographer. He’s amazing! Seriously Sorey, he’s so good, I don’t know how he does it.”

Rose was easy to talk to and so passionate about everything, it just made Sorey more and more interested. Even in the cold winter weather she had a spring in her step, almost skipping as they walked to the dance building.

“He comes up with dances by thinking of the scenes in his head and almost acting them out through dance.” She explained, excitedly.

“Whoa, that’s so cool.” Sorey replied. “Sounds similar to something you would do as a kid. Think of scenes and act them out.”

“Exactly! But he takes those scenes and makes something professional and actually beautiful out of them.” Rose talked. “I’m really good friends with him, you’re gonna love him Sorey. He’s a bit quiet but once you drag that shyness out, he’s super cool.”

They were walking right outside the dance building when suddenly Rose’s phone went off.

“Shoot, Edna’s calling me, what could she want?”

Rose answered the call only to hear a girl screaming over the line. Sorey could barely make out what was being said, but Rose seemed to be listening intently, her expression growing more worried. 

“What?! Okay I’ll be right there.” Rose hung up the phone and turned to Sorey. “Look I’m sorry Sorey, but something came up with set design and I need to go figure it out now. But look I told the choreographer that you were coming to learn the dance part, so he’ll be able to teach it to you. Just work on that until I get back okay?”

Sorey felt a little unsure of going to meet a random stranger without Rose there, especially since she had told him he was a bit quiet. But he decided it best to go along ahead. No harm in just getting this all taken care of.

“O-oh sure. Um, where can I find him.” Sorey asked as Rose was already walking away.

“Oh! Right! Just go to practice room 331, he should be in there. His name’s Mikleo, he’s got blue hair and purple eyes.”

_ What? _

Sorey paused as Rose was starting to walk off again. 

_ What did she just say? Had he heard her right? _

“Wait!” Sorey called after her. “Did you say Mikleo?!” 

“Yeah!” She yelled back starting to move into a run, getting farther away. “Don’t worry you can’t miss him!”

Sorey turned around, looking at the 3-story dance building.

_ Mikleo. _

_ Mikleo was in here? _

Sorey felt his heart stop. Was it really him? The same Mikleo from all those years ago. What were the chances though? Especially after everything Zaveid had told him this morning, how could everything work out like this? 

Sorey sprinted through the entrance of the building, jumping up the stairs

  
  


*******************************************************************************************

 

“Yes!” Mikleo shouted out. He finally figured it out. The final dance piece was complete and he could show it to Rose. After he was done with this dance audition he could finally show her his finished work.

Excited to try it out one last time, Mikleo hit the track for Rose’s song, and moved in position to dance it.

**_The woman laughed at the bumbling man, holding her gloved hand out to him, inviting him to dance. He took it and held her at the waist spinning and turning with her, sloppy at first, but quickly getting the hang of it._ **

**_The two sang and spun, moving perfectly in sync, falling more in love with each passing beat. Then the man moved to lift the woman up, grabbing her with both hands by the waist, pushing his strength into his legs and arms, and lifting her-_ **

“Mikleo?”

Shocked, Mikleo spun towards the door not hearing it open, and his heart sunk.

In the doorway stood Sorey. 

The taller boy looked exhausted like he had just been sprinting, and his eyes seemed to tell that he was equally as shocked as Mikleo was. 

Suddenly, Mikleo’s calm mind was broken. His thoughts filled with Sorey again.

What should he do? Mikleo had no idea what to expect. Would Sorey finally yell at him and tell him off, the way Mikleo thought he would have all those years ago. Or would it be even worse than he had anticipated? Mikleo wouldn’t be able to handle something like that. It would break him. Hearing the heartbreak and anger from his treasured childhood friend, it might just be the end of him. Mikleo wouldn’t even be able to tell Sorey his own feelings, tell him that he really did love him, and that he shouldn’t have been so scared to admit it in the past.

Sorey took a step forward. 

_ Here it comes. _

Sorey started sprinting towards Mikleo, despite how exhausted he appeared.

_ He’s going to slap me. Tell me he hates me, and that I’m a terrible person. I am,  I should never have treated you that way Sorey. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you, never meant to make you hate me. Even though it’s too late, I’ll apologize forever. _

Suddenly Mikleo felt himself tackled to the floor, landing hard, but felt no pain, as he felt Sorey, wrap his arms around him protectively. He felt Sorey shudder against him, and heard him… crying?

Mikleo shocked tilted his head slightly to look at Sorey’s face next to him, where it was buried in Mikleo’s shoulder.

“I missed you. Oh god it’s really you Mikleo!” Sorey cried out.

Mikleo didn’t know what to do, what to say. This was nothing like what he expected, and it threw him off balance. He slowly instinctively moved his arms to wrap around Sorey, but was stopped when Sorey pulled back looking at Mikleo in the eyes.

“I can’t believe it’s really you! You’re here! And, and you’re…” Sorey had a bright smile on his face, but tears streamed down his cheeks. 

Then it hit him. There wasn’t going to be any anger. Sorey wasn’t mad at him, he never had been. Sorey still cared about him and would never do anything to intentionally make Mikleo sad. Mikleo didn’t need to feel scared of any kind of retribution anymore. 

Mikleo felt tears welling up in his eyes, partly from seeing his friend again, who he thought he would never be able to talk to again. But the weight of his guilt and his shame was being lifted off of him, as he realized that he and Sorey weren’t going to fight with each other.

“S-Sorey… I…” Mikleo sobbed out, feeling tears stream down his face. He threw his arms over Sorey holding him close to him and sobbing into his chest.

“I-I’m, I’m so sorry! I m-missed you so much! I missed you!” Mikleo cried, unable to hold back all his emotions.

Sorey just held him even closer, feeling himself begin to cry harder and harder as Mikleo sobbed into his jacket.

The two of them remained that way, for what felt like an hour, before they exhausted themselves. 

Eventually Mikleo pulled away, his eyes puffy and no more tears to cry. Seeing his reflection in the practice room mirror, be flushed up a bit. His eyes were red, his hair messy, and he has snot all over his face. He wiped his nose, embarrassed that Sorey was seeing him so disheveled.

“I look terrible.” Mikleo said simply, laughing a bit at himself.

“You never looked better.” Sorey said smiling back at him. 

Mikleo instantly blushed at that looking down at the floor.

_ Oh yeah, there’s still that elephant in the room. _

“Oh! Um, sorry, I uh.. Didn’t mean it like…” Sorey stammered. “Er, well I kind of did mean it like that but…”

Mikleo looked up at Sorey’s face, seeing his eyes equally as swollen as his own, and a huge stain on his jacket from where Mikleo had been crying. Mikleo smirked, grabbing at the wet spot on Sorey’s jacket.

“It’s… It’s okay Sorey.” Mikleo said softly.

Sorey looked up, stunned at Mikleo.

“Really?” He said, shocked. “But even after I…”

Mikleo blushed and looked back down again. What could he say now? Did Sorey even feel the same way he had all those years ago? It was selfish for Mikleo to think that Sorey still liked him after all these years. Even though Mikleo hoped it would be true.

“I… want to say I’m sorry Sorey.” Mikleo started. “I’m sorry for not returning your feelings all those years ago.”

“What? N-no Mikleo, I’m sorry.” Sorey said waving his hands around. “I shouldn’t have pushed you like that back then. I-I won’t do it again.”

Mikleo’s heart sank and he looked down at his own crossed legs. So Sorey didn’t feel that way anymore? Sure seemed that way. Mikleo could feel his heart start to break. 

_ I’m being selfish! I want him to like me now, after all those years!? It’s not fair to him. He’s definitely moved on. He doesn’t think of me like that anymore. _

Mikleo felt himself start to cry again from his already tired eyes.

Sorey instantly noticed, suddenly worried what he had done.

“M-Mikleo! I’m, I’m sorry. Really! I know I must have hurt you back then. But I swear, it’s different now.” Sorey stammered. 

“No you idiot!” Mikleo heard himself yell. Sorey shocked at Mikleo’s sudden outburst, closed his mouth. They could both feel the tension in the room, but Mikleo wasn’t scared to break it. He knew he might never get this chance again.

“I-I like you, okay!?” Mikleo said through violent sobs. “I never knew how to tell you! But I-I, I like you! The same way you used to like me!”

Sorey’s eyes widened, and he felt his own heart stop.

“But it clearly doesn’t matter anymore, okay! Because you’ve moved on, and I’m stuck feeling this way. Feeling the same way you felt seven years ago!” Mikleo cried and cried. He felt his body collapsing and he curled in on himself, unable to look Sorey in the face.

Sorey looked at the sobbing boy in front of him, unsure of what to do. He remembered what Zaveid told him, to say how he felt and not compromise. Sorey felt a surge of confidence, straightened his back and clasped Mikleo by the shoulders, causing Mikleo to look up at Sorey, his face stained with tears.

Sorey moved to Mikleo’s face and put his lips to Mikleo’s. He instantly felt Mikleo stiffen, obviously shocked by Sorey’s actions, but slowly he felt him melt into Sorey’s arms and begin to kiss him back. Sorey wrapped his arms around Mikleo’s waist pulling him tighter around him, feeling Mikleo grasp Sorey’s shoulders.

“I love you. I love you Sorey.” Mikleo sobbed into Sorey’s mouth, seeming to only start crying harder and harder.

“It’s okay Mikleo. I love you too.” Sorey said pulling Mikleo into his neck and letting him continue to cry there.

 

*******************************************************************************************

 

Mikleo once again wiped his nose looking at Sorey who was beaming at him. He had been crying almost nonstop for the last hour and half, since Sorey had entered the room. But Mikleo felt better than he had in a long time. There wasn’t anymore fear of Sorey, whether it had been about Sorey yelling at him, or Sorey rejecting him. Mikleo was finally free of any doubt and fear.

“I liked the dance you were doing earlier.” Sorey said, breaking the silence. Mikleo just flushed at that, wondering how Sorey could be so casual after everything that had just happened.

“Thanks… it’s the final piece for the musical.” Mikleo said smiling back at Sorey.

“Oh? Then I guess I better start working on learning it huh?” Sorey said, standing up and walking to grab his bag that he had thrown against the wall when he ran into the room. He bent down and picked up his water bottle, taking a drink and then handing it over to Mikleo. “Here, better drink something.”

“How are you so casual right now?” Mikleo asked smirking as he took the bottle from him.

“Hmm?” Sorey said slyly. “Oh I’m not casual at all. I’ve got butterflies going crazy in my stomach. I’m just happy inside because the person I love, loves me back.”

Mikleo smiled back at Sorey.

“Yeah we’re pretty lucky aren’t we.”

Sorey looked down at Mikleo from where he stood, bending down and moving to kiss Mikleo again.

“YO! I’m here!”

Sorey jumped back up away from Mikleo, seeing Rose open the door to the practice room.

“Oh-Oh! Hey Rose! What’s up?” Sorey stammered. Mikleo looked away too embarrassed to want to be seen by Rose.

“What’s up? What do you mean? I’m here to see the dance number.” She said eyeing the two boys quizzically.

“Um, right!” Mikleo cleared his throat, standing up. “I was just about to start teaching it to him.”

“What!? What have you been doing the last couple of hours?” Rose yelled. She stared at Mikleo’s, still tear-stained face, gasping. “Were you crying!?”

“W-we were just catching up.” Sorey offered.

“Huh? You two know each other?” Rose asked.

“Smooth, Sorey.” Mikleo angrily whispered.

“Ohhhh! I see what’s going on here.” Rose said walking over to the two of them, clearly putting it all together. “Does this have anything to do with why you ran out crying after hearing his audition?”

Sorey turned to Mikleo immediately.

“You were at my audition?” Sorey asked loudly. “But, but that means you heard my song… that…” Sorey and Mikleo both flushed immediately. 

“It’s not my fault that you didn’t know! It was dark in there!” Mikleo said, trying to shift the blame. “I didn’t know you were gonna be there either.”

“Wait so you knew it was me and you didn’t come up to me and say anything?” Sorey asked.

“I… I was scared, plus I was crying. I couldn’t go talk to you like that.” Mikleo said, furiously blushing.

“Well… what did you think? Of my performance I mean?” Sorey asked again.

“That’s what you’re focused on?” Mikleo looked at him in disbelief. “It was, well it was really good.”

“Good!” Sorey said rubbing the back of his head. “Whew, glad you didn’t think it was embarrassing or anything.” 

“Ahem!” Rose said clearing her throat. “Glad you two lovebirds are having this little chat right now, but can we please get on with the dance audition? We’re like two hours behind schedule right now.”

“Oh of course.” Mikleo said running to turn the ipod on. “Okay Sorey this is the song you’ll be dancing to. I’ll do the routine, really quick so you can see it in its entirety, then I’ll teach it to you.”

Mikleo jumped into action, running through the steps, fluidly. Sorey watched from the side, too entranced by Mikleo’s dancing to actually take in any of the moves. He couldn’t believe that the person he had loved and held onto for so long had returned his feelings. This was the happiest he had felt in his life and he wanted to cherish it forever. 

Mikleo’s lithe body dipped and swayed effortlessly. Sorey was memorised by how he had grown from a shy kid, with only stories in his head, to a beautiful dancer, expressing his stories and emotions through dance.

Mikleo ended the routine turning to Sorey, a bit flushed from the dance, and saw Sorey smiling lovingly at him. Mikleo blushed, but smiled back at him knowingly. 

“Okay Sorey, come over here and I’ll show you the routine.”

  
  


*******************************************************************************************

 

**_Far away a window shattered._ **

**_The Moon Prince looks up to see sunlight streaming through the broken window. His prison is flooded with a warm soft light, as he walks up to the newly formed opening._ **

**_A man clad in red armor with a flowing yellow cape appears and extends his hand out towards him. He takes it and sees the warm smile and kind green eyes leading him out of his cage. The Knight of the Sun softly kisses his hand and sweetly says:_ **

**_“I missed you.”_ **


End file.
